In the wake of a couple of posts to his Instagram account at the weekend, the British media has been getting excited at the prospect of Lewis Hamilton 'taking a knee' on the podium at one of the forthcoming races.

What started last year as a "protest against social and racial injustice" by NFL player Colin Kaepernick, has taken on a life of its own in recent weeks as the practice of getting down on one knee during the (American) national anthem, as opposed to standing, has spread.

Indeed, as celebrities now pledge to 'take the knee' what began as a protest is now in danger of becoming the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' of 2017.

A gesture that was merely polarising NFL fans in the United States took on greater significance however when President Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticise the practice, thereby giving the green light to all and sundry joining the great debate.

In the wake of Hamilton's social media posts at the weekend, the media in Malaysia, sensing that the Briton might join 'the movement' asked the Mercedes driver if he might 'take the knee', aware that the United States Grand Prix is just a few weeks away.

"It is open for anyone to have freedom of speech and I guess we can all play a role in trying to make a difference in the world," he told reporters, "particularly if your leader is not helping in that area.

"It requires people to stand together," he added defiantly. "I can identify with a lot of those individuals."

Ignoring the fact that social and racial injustice is hardly rampant in Monaco, one has to ask why the Mercedes driver has only now discovered a political voice.

Why no protests in the various countries that F1 visits with questionable records on Human Rights.

Though he missed out on a podium place in Russia, would he really have taken Vladimir Putin to one side and questioned him on some of his country's practices.

Indeed, should Lewis encounter Jean Todt over the Malaysia weekend will he question the FIA president on the grants given in recent years to the likes of Syria, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Rwanda and Iran.

Bernie Ecclestone famously said that "F1 doesn't do politics", and one can understand why.

A sport watched by millions around the world every couple of weeks - a sport already in the sights of the green lobby - doesn't want to offend. Consequently every ****, ****, ******** and **** uttered by the likes of Grosjean, Magnussen, Vettel and Raikkonen is carefully edited out.

In a week in which the legendary Mel Brooks claimed that Political Correctness is killing comedy, F1 doesn't want to do or say anything that might stop fans buying sponsors products or manufacturers road cars.

"I hate politics," admitted Hamilton yesterday. "I don't have the greatest understanding of it and I absolutely hate politics."

If the media does - as one suspects it will - attempt to push the Briton towards making a stand and 'taking the knee' he would do well to ignore it.

While it is unclear how Mercedes would react, it is almost certain that the FIA would accuse the Briton of bringing the sport into disrepute.

And what of Liberty Media?

Well, at a time NFL fans are ripping up their season tickets, burning their team gear and cancelling TV subscriptions, the sport's new owner would not be impressed by any action that it perceives as potentially damaging to its customer base and thereby profits, especially at a time Liberty is looking to expand the sport in its homeland.

Oh, and more thing Lewis might want to know. Liberty owner, John Malone, Liberty Media Corp. CEO Greg Maffei, Liberty Media and Liberty Interactive, were all major donors to Donald Trump's election campaign.

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the 'knee movement', be it genuine protest or virtue signalling, if Hamilton wants to make a statement there are other ways of doing it. For at a time the Briton needs to be focussed fully on the battle with Sebastian Vettel for the title, the last thing the Mercedes driver needs is the s**t-storm that would surely follow any such gesture.

Take the advice Lewis, not the knee.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by The stogie, 05/10/2017 20:20

"Lewis will lose a LOT of fans IF he does 'take the knee''!! Me included. But then again 'stupid is as stupid does'!!"

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2. Posted by Trixi, 05/10/2017 20:11

"Hamilton should be put on the "no-fly" list. That will stop all the farting in church. If he wants to protest, tell him to do it in front of his own house; being wherever he chooses...hmmmm, well, it's not in the UK because he left there to avoid paying taxes. So, do it in Monaco. He owns a place in Colorado; did he buy in NYC or LA? So go kneel there. You kneel in Texas and you will most definitely not like the reaction. Kaepernick did it for his Muslim GF; then he quit the NFL on his contract. THEN, he said he wouldn't take a knee anymore if a team would hire him. So, what does that tell you about his hypocrisy? "

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3. Posted by Francis, 01/10/2017 11:36

"@mittagongcalling. First, as a black man who lives in one of its largest urban communities, I do not need to be lectured to by anyone on being black or the issue of urban policing. Second, Lewis is not a citizen of the USA, he is not even a legal resident in this country - he is a British citizen and a resident of Monaco.

Police violence and the recent deaths of the predominantly black men and women in police actions is not something that should be trivialized by a meaningless PR stunt, which is what this would be. Lewis Hamilton had spent an unusual amount of time in California and Colorado over the last ten years and strangely has never once addressed the issue of persistent racial inequality or police violence in urban America. It is plainly strange to me that all of a sudden, now have all these high profile athletes protesting, he wants to fashionably "join" the cause. Social conscience is a major responsibility for any citizen of any society. It demands commitment, honesty, dedication, respect and responsibility. I wholeheartedly support EVERY black athlete in the NFL who chooses to kneel, most of them are a few years away from being poor black citizens of the very communities that are at risk of over policing, and many of them have only escaped the poverty of their American lives due to the benefit of a singular athletic talent. They know first hand what it is like to be black and poor in America. If Lewis Hamilton wants to show solidarity with the NFL players, I suggest he boycott Austin in solidarity with the black people of the world. He needs to understand the complexity of the issues at hand before jumping on the band wagon. He should first understand the evolution of the "take a knee campaign". For example Lewis, like many others , should be aware that Colin Kaepernick (who started this process) was advised by a disabled veteran that kneeling for the anthem was a more respectful form of protest than simply sitting for the anthem, which is how this all started last year and that is why he started kneeling. Kaepernick, never wanted to be the voice of the movement, he just want to show his frustration with the lack of concern shown for the lives of the victims of police actions. Lewis should know that while Black Lives Matter was rooted in the killing of Trayvon Martin, the founders wanted to build an organization that address several of the civil rights issues that the church based black civil rights movement were ignoring, including justice for black gays, lesbian, and transgender as well as women and the undocumented community of blacks especially Africans living in the US. He would find out that BLM was started by three black women and two of the three are self identified as members of the black gay community. Finally, Lewis standing for every anthem so far this year (including Bahrain, Russia, China and Baku all countries with atrocious human rights records) and then singling out the USA is crass hypocrisy and irresponsibility. What we all need is a moment of perspective on what is happening in the black community not another publicity seeking celeb trying to burnish his social conscience on the backs of poor black folk. Finally, I write this this is as a major Hamilton fan!"

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4. Posted by Uffen, 29/09/2017 22:27

"For a non-American to show disrespect for America, particularly when visiting that country to earn many $ for himself, increase his fan base and sporting statistics (and hence future earnings), represent his employer (a multi-national company which gains much profit from the American market), and demonstrate his sporting ethos to all and sundry, is not sound self management nor is it admirable."

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5. Posted by -ape-, 29/09/2017 18:47

"who cares , at least the guy has an opinion , right or wrong . "

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6. Posted by FormerF1Fan, 29/09/2017 18:18

"Hamilton has already revealed quite clrearly his (lack of) respect for the sport with his holiday-being-more-important shenannigins. Is his brain in his knee?
"

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7. Posted by Squirt, 29/09/2017 15:35

"lewis may be a very good driver, but what an idiot otherwise! The thing that annoys me most is whe on the podium and national anthems are being played, Sebastian Vettel, always stands stock still for whomever's anthem is being played .... Hamilton jigs about, waves his hands and generally shows (in my view) dis respect for anyone's anthem, including the British! Going down on one knee would not surprise me in the least "

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8. Posted by mittagongcalling, 29/09/2017 12:50

"Francis, is your surname Trump???"

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9. Posted by Spindoctor, 29/09/2017 10:05

"Agree that Lewis needs to think very carefully about this. Donald Trump and his supporters' views on Race & Community Relations in USA are a problem for that country to sort out. The NFL & its stars are important to many in USA, Formula 1 & its drivers are not.
Whatever action (or inaction) Lewis might take, will have less than zero, zilch, nada effect on what's happening in USA, or indeed elsewhere in the World. "

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10. Posted by Francis, 29/09/2017 7:47

"What has been lost in all the noise is that the original purpose of the protest was the heavy handed approach by some members of the police towards members of the African-American community in the US. This means that the one race Lewis should have shown his solidarity for injustice was his black community in England and ths directed his protest towards the British Grand Prix. Short of that as an African American, who supports the actions by the American athletes, I would be unimpressed if a tourist was to show any disrespect towards the host country's national symbol. Mercedes should make sure that message is clearly understood by Lewis. For better or worse he is a guest of the USA and should act appropriately."

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Don't take the knee Lewis

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